Among the beautiful faces you will see on Kenya’s no. 1 television, Citizen TV, is Mashirima Kapombe.
She is an award-winning journalist, proficient in presenting Swahili and English news. She boasts a career span of over eight years and is one of Kenya’s most paid news presenters.
Currently, she hosts Citizen TV’s 7 pm Friday Bulletin and the mid-morning show, Sema na Citizen, currently dubbed Sema 2020 due to the coming August general election.
While Mashirima is famous, little is known about her life because she prefers maintaining her privacy.
Mkenya Leo compiled a biographical profile of the damsel, and here is all you need to know about her.
Age and Background
Mashirima was born on the 1st of May, 1989. She hails from the coastal region, particularly Voi in Taita-Taveta County.
Family & Motherhood
The TV queen does not say much about her family. Mkenya Leo found out that her father is a dentist who practices in Nyeri County. We also learned that Mashirima had to move to Nyeri to stay with her father, which explains why she studied there.
Mashirima is a proud mother of one son. Numerous times, she has shared videos and photographs of her son on her social media. What caught people’s attention is how the boy speaks English eloquently and courageously, something which most children his age cannot.
Education
You will be surprised to learn that Mashirima went to Consolata Primary School, Nyeri County, far away from her home. She pursued her secondary education at Gatimu Ngandu Secondary School, after which she joined Daystar University in 2008 to study Bachelor of Arts in Communication. She graduated in 2012.
Career
Mashirima started her career from the bottom, which is why she inspires many aspiring journalists.
She began her career at Daystar, where she worked for the university radio as a news presenter for English and Swahili news.
She got promoted to the station’s managerial position, a position she held until she got a six-month contract job at QFM, owned by Nation Media Group. She did her job diligently, resulting in her being promoted to work for NTV, also owned by Nation Media Group, as a reporter and news anchor.
She then moved to KTN in 2013 as one of the station’s top reporters and presenters.
In 2018, she got lucky as Citizen TV poached her along with other leading journalists like Yvonne Okwara. She was assigned to host the Swahili Friday Bulletin. Her bulletin also features Longalonga alongside veterans Nuhu Bakari and Munene Nyaga. Longalonga is a show that teaches people the correct meaning and pronunciation of Swahili vocabulary.
Awards
Mashirima boasts of numerous awards. Here’s are some of them as known by Mkenya Leo,
2013 – Young journalist of the year (AJEA awards)
2014 – Gender reporter of the year (AJEA awards)
2014 – Children and youth affairs reporter of the year (AJEA awards)
2021- African Journalists Gender Equality Awards
Controversy and Rumors
Mashirima is rumored to have been in a serious relationship with comedian Captain Otoyo. It is said that their relationship produced her son. Word says that Otoyo cheated on her severally, and she decided to call it quits.
